Air India Express flight hits electric pole at Vijayawada airport, Passengers safe

New Delhi, Feb 20: An Air India Express flight, carrying 64 passengers, has hit an electric pole while landing in Andhra Pradesh's Vijayawad.

"All 64 passengers on board the flight and the crew are safe," Vijayawada International Airport director G Madhusudan Rao said.

The flight landed at the airport at Gannavaram from Doha, en route Tiruchirappalli in Tamil Nadu, when the mishap occurred, according to airport director Madhusudana Rao.

Of the 64, 19 passengers were to disembark at Vijayawada while the rest were bound for Tiruchirappalli.

One of the passengers, Reshma of Nidadavole, said it was a happy landing finally though there was a bit of panic when there was a sudden jerk during taxiing.

"By God''s grace there was nothing untoward. The airlines staff said the mishap was only minor, which came as a big relief to us," another passenger Varalakshmi of Kakinada said.

The aircraft had been grounded in Vijayawada even as the authorities were making alternative arrangements for flying the 45 passengers to Tiruchirappalli later tonight, airport sources said.

Air India Express said it has ordered an investigation into the incident.

On Friday, a flight from Sharjah to Kozhikode with 112 passengers made an emergency landing at the international airport on Friday due to a snag in the aircraft.

The Air India Express plane developed the snag in the hydraulic system and made the landing at Thiruvananthapuram where the airlines have the base with more technical experts.

The aircraft took off from Sharjah at 7 AM and was supposed to land at 12.40 PM in Kozhikode. Airport sources said the flight was diverted to Thiruvananthapuram as there was the risk of landing at the table-top runway of Kozhikode airport, especially in an emergency situation. The flight was carrying 104 passengers and eight crew members.

This is the third such incident after Kozhikode airport crash involving Air India Express flying from Gulf countries to southern states of India.